The Rise of the New Marketing OrganizationIn a survey of 300+ marketing executives, Forbes Insights and Turn reveal perceptions around data-driven marketing and its impact on organizations. Learn how you can leverage their experiences and transform your team into a data-driven powerhouse. Download the whitepaper now!

Network Update

Brands get another way to target Facebook usersFacebook is testing Suggested Page ad units that let companies advertise in the news feed of people who haven't "liked" their brand. The minimalist units are "among the least social units Facebook has on offer," and likely reflect an effort by Facebook to encourage more advertisers to buy news feed space, Tim Peterson writes. Adweek
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Getting Paid: How to Get Customers to Pay UpDealing with the money isn't fun, but it's a necessary evil for staying in business. While every business has their ups and downs, the key to positive cash flow is collecting payments in full and on time to keep the cash coming in as predictably as possible. Seem impossible? Learn how these small-business owners did it.

Ideas in Action

Pepsi pokes at "Coke Chase" in video; Coca-Cola respondsPepsi looked to knock down Coca-Cola's "Coke Chase" commercial aired during the Super Bowl by releasing a video hours before the game featuring actors supposedly in the Coke spot trying to extract a Pepsi Next from a broken vending machine. Coke quickly issued a response video, mentioning that "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." Adweek/AdFreak blog
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Pinterest comes with a learning curve for merchantsPinterest users have liked, pinned or otherwise referenced the fashion brand H&M 145,000 times in the past month, but many of the pins link to styles that are no longer available from the retailer. It's a common issue for retailers using the image-driven social site, Curalate CEO Apu Gupta says. Adweek
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Combating Identity Theft in a Mobile, Social WorldMobile connectivity threats extend from consumers to the business environment. But who is really responsible for securing sensitive information? Smart business leaders are becoming proactive on the matter. Learn how to get protected in this white paper. Download the white paper now.

The Takeaway

Why social brands have a customer-service edgeSocial media can help brands provide stellar customer service by boosting transparency and giving a more human and immediate response to customers' problems, IBM's Stefan Pfeiffer writes. "In the age of social business, a good customer experience is personal, personalized, comprehensive, sustainable and transparent," Pfeiffer writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media
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Building a companywide B2B social media teamMarketing, sales and some customer-facing employees should all be involved in business-to-business social media efforts, Bob Apollo writes. Sales, in particular, should realize the value of Nimble and other programs that integrate customer-relationship management with social data. Broad involvement in social media requires unifying the participants' presence as positive and professional for sharing and teaching, not selling. Use clear guidelines to encourage employee creativity without stifling them with a top-down approach, Apollo advises. Inflexion-Point.com (U.K.)
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How SDN Makes Campus Networks BetterWhen should agencies adopt SDN? IDC reports that SDN provides immediate benefits for government campus networks, including modernized IT infrastructures that are more agile, cost-effective, and collaborative.Read this new IDC paper to learn more.

Social Shareable

Remains are identified as 15th-century English kingSkeletal remains found under a parking lot in England have been proven "beyond reasonable doubt" as being King Richard III, who died in battle in 1485 and was later depicted in a Shakespeare play. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said the bones were "indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England." DNA samples connected the remains to the monarch's descendants, and wounds found on the skull are consistent with battle accounts. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
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SmartQuote

In the age of social business, a good customer experience is personal, personalized, comprehensive, sustainable and transparent. It supports multiple channels and is coherent, communicative, and active on social networks."